We’re pulling out all the stops this time in creating an
indulgent, whimsical and delicious package. If you love
chocolate (and wine … don’t forget the wine), then you won’t
be able to resist this one. The weekend before Valentines Day
will never be the same again!
The New Jersey Wine Trail is doing a special “Chocolate
Wine Tasting Weekend” and we decided to create a little
package around it. You’ll start off with a chocolate truffel
tower (that is them in the photo) awaiting you in your room
upon arrival. Next, trek down the Cape May portion of the
“Chocolate Wine Trail” for wine tastings at both Cape May
Winery and Natali Vineyards (each winery will be featuring
chocolates with their wine tasting). To top it off, you’ll
enjoy complimentary desserts (with your paid meal) at two of
Cape May’s finest restaurants, Freda’s Cafe and Moonfish Grill
on either Friday or Saturday nights. You don’t have to have a
chocolate dessert, but why have anything else? The great news
is that this package only costs $25 in addition to the price
of your room, a great value.
So here is the important
thing to think about … admit it, you’re struggling over what
to do for your loved one for Valentines (I know, because I’m
struggling too). We’re already nearly full for Valentines
weekend, so if you were thinking about a trip to The Queen
Victoria for Valentines and haven’t booked it yet, it’s just
about too late. This is the perfect solution. Celebrate a week
early and make a Chocolate Fantasy weekend of it.
Call
us today!
Great
Price $25
Say Cheese!
So chocolate isn’t your thing? How about Cheese? On
Saturday, February 21 we’ll be hosting a Cheese Tasting party
at The Queen Victoria. We’ve never done this before, but how
can you go wrong with a room full of cheese?
Anna Marie and I will be filling the House of Royals parlor
with a wide assortment of cheeses from our friends at Seaside
Cheese (I know lots of you love it there). There will be 10 to
12 cheeses for us to taste and each one will have a write up
about its origin, how it is made and any other fun tidbits of
information. We’ll also have breads from one of our local
bakeries along with an assortment of specialty olive
oils.
We’re planning on doing this Saturday at around
1:00, so you can actually make a lunch out of it if you wanted
to. Now I know that for some people it is impossible to eat
cheese without having a glass of wine in your hand, so we’re
welcoming everyone to bring their own wine and make an
afternoon of it.
The really good news is that this is
a free event for all of our guests that weekend. Who knows,
perhaps this will become an annual event.
FREE!!
Sherlock Holmes returns
March 20-22!
Boy, this guy just never quits! Like clockwork, twice a
year Sherlock returns to Cape May to solve another great
mystery of our time. This March is no exception, with
Sherlock, Watson, and a troupe of nefarious characters
returning to quiet Cape May to stir things up a bit. Of
course, he needs your help to actually solve the mystery.
Don’t let him down!
On Friday night you’ll join your fellow “partners in crime”
for desserts and coffee and meet Dr. John Watson and the rest
of the cast, where you’ll be drawn into the mystery. Saturday
you’ll be rubbing elbows with the cast (in character) as you
tour several houses in town (including The Queen Victoria)
searching for clues to solve the mystery. After the tour it’s
back to the theatre to see the next act and get all the final
clues you’ll need to solve the mystery. Finally, on Sunday
you’ll attend a brunch and see if you had the best solution to
the mystery. You might even win a prize for best costume (if
you dressed for the event), or “Most Clueless” if you happened
to have made a particularly pathetic effort. It is all in good
fun and a good time is assured for all.
Wine
Lover’s Weekend(s) … Coming Soon!
I introduced our new Wine Blending Challenge in my last
newsletter. Now here we are only a few days away from the
first of our two events this year. The response has already
been wonderful, so we’re already assured of having a great
time. As they say, though, the more the merrier, so if you are
looking for a wonderful winter weekend event (and some good
wine), then think about joining us.
Anna Marie and I are partnering with Cape May Winery to
create a special event/package for true wine lovers. On
January 24 and March 7 of 2009 The Queen Victoria is hosting a
“Wine Blending Challenge”. On Saturday afternoon you will join
Anna Marie and me at Cape May Winery to craft the perfect
blend of red wine. We’ll break up into teams of 4 people at
tables laden with decanters of the various 2007 red wines
right out of the barrel and trays of cheese from Seaside
Cheese (this blending is hard work, so we’ll need sustanance).
Each team will craft & document different blends, ranking
them among themselves. Once each team has selected the
“perfect blend”, we’ll all break for a tour of the winery
while the winemaker crafts the chosen blends. Following the
tour, we head back to the blending room and do a “blind”
tasting of the chosen blend of each team. We’ll all vote on
the best blend, which will then be bottled for us with a
special “Queen Victoria Cellars” label. You will get two
bottles (per couple) of the final blend, the labels of which
will be customized with your names and the blending details.
You’ll be able to carry it proudly to your favorite BYOB
restaurant in the Queen Victoria wine bag that is also
included in the package.
This exclusive event is only
open to guests of The Queen Victoria and will only occur twice
a year. I’m anticipating adding another facet to the event in
future years, where prior year’s blends, which I promise to
save in my cellar, will be “blind tasted” against the current
selected blend. Does this sound like fun or what?
The
cost of this event is $100/couple in addition to your reserved
room. Remember, this event is only being held on January 24
and March 7 this year. I don’t think you’ll want to miss
it.
Only
$50/person
The Perfect Valentines Gift idea
So you’re still trying to come up with the perfect
Valentines gift for your loved one. Perhaps you thought about
the “Chocolate Lovers Fantasy Weekend” as an option, but you
can’t get away the weekend before the actual date (not that
there is anything wrong with celebrating a little early). So
where does that leave you? Jewelry? Chocolates? Flowers?
You’ll certainly do a card, but that isn’t really enough, is
it? In fact, haven’t you already done all those things before
anyway? Don’t you want to come up with something really
special this year? I’ve got an idea!
This year give your Valentine the most wonderful gift of
all … some time together in romantic Cape May. Just because
you can’t get into The Queen Victoria for Valentines itself
(we’ve only got two rooms left at this point) doesn’t mean
that you can’t give a gift of The Queen Victoria. Think about
it. There are at least 5 reasons why a Queen Victoria gift
certificate is the perfect gift 1) you can buy it today and be
done with it 2) How can you go wrong with a promise of a
vacation? 3) It is sure to fit 4) You’ll get credit for a
great gift when you give it on Valentines and then again when
you actually stay at The Queen Victoria and 5) (this one is
big) You Get To Enjoy It Too!
The final great thing
about a Queen Victoria gift certificate is how easy it is to
buy. Just give us a call and we’ll put one in the mail the
same day. Don’t wait until February 13th to
call!
If you’ve been receiving my emails for a while you might recall
that I declared the months of January through April the “Special
Occasion Season” last year. Lots of things have happened since then,
a new president, financial market upheaval, and most recently a
miraculous crash landing on the Hudson river. None of those things
alters the fact that it is now the Special Occasion Season in Cape
May again.
Most of you have a special occasion of some type
within this (soon to be) famous season. It might be a birthday, the
anniversary of your wedding (or perhaps of your engagement or your
first date), or a birthday. Some of you may even be planning a
marriage proposal this year. Whatever it might be, you would be hard
pressed to find a more romantic, relaxing and enjoyable place to
celebrate your special occasion than the The Queen Victoria.
Featured “Room of the Month” … Prince Arthur
Which room has our best ocean view? You guessed it: Prince
Arthur. The Prince Arthur room is a standard room on the 3rd
floor of the House of Royals. It is one of our largest
standard rooms and it definitely has our best ocean view. It
also has the best view in town of the Queen Victoria building,
which is surely one of the most photographed buildings in Cape
May (if not New Jersey).
Yes, the 3rd floor of the House of Royals was once a
brothel, so it is quite likely that the Prince Arthur room has
an interesting history. It is much more respectable these
days, of course. If you like an elegant, charming setting, a
beautiful, bright, large bathroom with a marble floor, marble
bench seat in the shower and long marble vanity (this room has
more marble surfaces than any other in the inn) you’re going
to love the Prince Arthur room. And of course, it has the
ocean view. Remember, we’re a block from the beach, so the
view is not panoramic, but it is a pretty
view.
Anna Marie and I are so excited that this event is
returning for its 2nd time this March 27-28. This is a GREAT
event. With over 125 free performances in 15 different venues
around town, you are sure to have a wonderful experience.
Like last year, dozens of up and coming musicians of
all kinds will be converging on Cape May to perform and “break
out” in front of our audiences and all the music professionals
that will be in town. If you are interested in hearing some of
tomorrows big stars before they’re discovered, make plans to
attend.
IMPORTANT … please ignore the dates you see
in the graphic above. It was the only one I could snag for my
email, but unfortunately it is last year’s poster. This year’s
event is March 27-28.
The Queen Victoria is Zagat® rated!
We just discovered that thanks to several of our wonderful
guests who took the time to review us on ZAGAT.com, we are now
Cape May’s only Zagat® rated bed and breakfast.
I know that most of you think of Zagat® as a restaurant
rating system, but they actually rate lodging establishments
as well. We’re very pleased to have this distinction, as you
can imagine. I guess being Cape May’s only Zagat® rated inn
makes us Cape May’s top rated inn! Works for
me.
A last look … at Convention Hall
I took a (very cold) walk down to the beach this morning to
see what is going on with Convention Hall. It turns out that
nothing is happening yet, so there is nothing to really tell
you about it.
Since I know that demolition is imminent, I thought I’d
take the opportunity to get one last photo for posterity.
Looking at this photo, which is definitely the best view of
the old place, I can’t help but look forward to our new
facility. Though this one served us well, it definitely
outlived its useful life and had severe limitations. The new
facility will be a wonderful addition to Cape My. I’m looking
forward to documenting the progress for you.
Favorite Guest Photos … Winter Moon?
This is another great “Cape May Winter” photo taken last
February by Chris Adelman. At first glance I assumed that this
was a great shot of the moon, but now I’m not so sure. The
more I look at it, the more I think It is probably a fancy
shot (with filters or something) of the sun setting behind the
lighthouse.
I do know that it was taken from the end of our promenade
at the pavilion. Many of you have probably witnessed the flag
lowering ceremony there in the warmer months. Besides the
mystery of the sun vs. moon thing, the really great thing
about this photo is the timing. I’ve never seen a photo that
captured the rotating beacon light of the lighthouse so
perfectly. The snow on the beach in the foreground is
reminiscent of our experience this week too! We don’t get too
much snow in Cape May, so it is always interesting to see it
on the beach.
I always start looking forward to the Spring Jazz Festival
about this time every year. This year’s festival will be held
April 17-19. Once again, it looks to be a wonderful lineup of
talented musicians converging on Cape May to make us the
coolest (figuratively speaking) place in America.
The 31st Cape May Jazz Festival “Legends…and More Blues”
will pay tribute to Billy Eckstine and Sara Vaughn with “Have
a Song on Me” celebrating Mr. B with the B Swingers Big Band
starring Steve Butler with special guest Sabrina Carten.
Opening up Saturday night with James Cotton Blues Band at the
Theatre at Lower Regional High School. Other legends: Odean
Pope while Barbara King will pay tribute to Sara Vaughn. More
Blues: Andrew Jr. Boy Jones and Eddie Shaw appearing Friday
and Saturday nights at Cabanas and Alan Weber and Frenz
Saturday afternoon doing a blues jam.
By the way, if
that last paragraph seemed a little confused or structurally
questionable … I pulled it off of their website. I just
can’t get away with anything here.
Doug & Anna Marie’s Restaurant Pick Of The Month
…
This is a restaurant that needs no introduction. The
Lobster House is undoubtedly the most popular restaurant in
Cape May. In fact, it is one of the most popular restaurants
in the entire country. Most of you have already dined there at
least once.
Now Anna Marie and I don’t usually talk too much about the
Lobster House because it is kind of inconvenient to get to
during our busy season. The fact that there is usually an hour
wait and they don’t take reservations is a big part of the
reason too. In the quieter months, however, it is a great
little escape.
Anna Marie and I went there the other
night and had a wonderful evening. The first thing we noticed
was the large, varied menu. We were pleased with both the
quality of the offerings and prices. Even the wine list was
pretty reasonable. We started off with a wonderful calamari
appetizer special ($7) that was really delicious. Anna Marie
ordered the Broiled Scallops and I ordered Grilled Mako Shark.
We both got salads, of course, and a HUGE loaf of fresh baked
bread. Everything was great and we didn’ have to wait at all.
A very nice evening out!
If you’re planning a trip to
The Queen Victoria this winter (and we certainly hope that you
are) then be sure to make it to the Lobster House. By the way,
be sure not to wear a little sailor outfit or you’ll be
mistaken for one of the staff.
Make your reservations today for a romantic getaway at The Queen
Victoria Bed and Breakfast. We are looking forward to helping you
plan your next visit!
